Josie's Adventure
by Nevyn04
Summary: Josie gets into Hogwarts, but not the conventional way...


JOSIE'S ADVENTURE  
  
CHAPTER 1  
  
As fourteen-year-old Josie sat on her rickety bed, she stared out of the window daydreaming. Her jet-black waist length hair blowing slightly in the breeze. If only I could get out of this place, she thought. It would be so much better to be anywhere but here. She lived in an orphanage not far from Edinburgh, in a town called Musselburgh in Scotland, and she despised it.  
  
Her parents, she believed would come back for her once they had finished their 'important jobs' and she had always hoped they would. Now that she had grown up somewhat, she knew better. Her parents as you could call them could barely look after themselves, let alone a 2 year old, because they had zero income and a truckload of stolen goods, or so she was told by the staff at Wently House.  
  
Josie turned her back on the window and was just about to walk downstairs for breakfast when she heard a faint shriek from the dining hall, which was two stories below her bedroom. She ran from her room as fast as she could down the spiralling staircase and slid to a halt in front of her carer Mrs Wently. She looked as though she had seen a ghost.  
  
For a second Josie had no idea what was going on, until she saw the large owl sitting on the dining table holding a letter in its beak. Josie, being an animal lover moved forward and took the letter from the owl. She looked at the front of the envelope and gasped.  
  
Miss Joselyn Fairburn  
  
Middle Floor  
  
Wently House  
  
Musselburgh  
  
Scotland  
  
That's my name she thought; yet how did the sender know her room was on the middle floor? And what my full name is? And why would they be writing to me, I have no friends? Her thoughts were interrupted by the disgusted sounds coming from Mrs Wently.  
  
"Josie who is that from" she barked in her usual voice.  
  
"I'm not sure madam" she answered and continued to stair at the envelope.  
  
"Well stop wasting time girl and open it" Mrs Wently continued  
  
Josie's trembling fingers reached for the seal on the back of the envelope and pulled, as she did so the envelope ripped and 3 pieces of heavy paper fell out onto the wooden floor, that was far from polished. She picked up the first piece and read.  
  
Dear Miss Fairburn,  
  
We are sorry to inform you that due to some error in our filing system we lost your application for admittance into Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As you have lost 3 years of your Witchcraft studies it would be rather pointless to send you this year, as you will be too far behind. However we can give you an option that enables you to study your magic while on summer vacation and at home for the first three years, this program is called Distance Education, and in three years time I think we can catch you up with the other students.  
  
Yours truly,  
  
Minerva McGonagall  
  
Deputy Headmistress  
  
She looked up at Mrs Wently's Face and smiled.  
  
"I don't have to go to that retched high school anymore" she laughed  
  
"What are you talking about girl" Mrs Wently exclaimed, going rather red in the face. Josie pushed the letter into her hand and watched as her already red face went a shade of purple and then green.  
  
Josie picked up the second piece of paper and read aloud  
  
Miss Fairburn,  
  
Your schoolbooks will need to be purchased at Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Ally. Go to the storeowner and ask for Miss Fairburn's books he will give them to you. You should receive books from first to third year  
  
On the third piece of parchment were instructions on how to get to Diagon ally.  
  
Miss Fairburn,  
  
To get to Diagon Ally you are to go to "The Cauldron" in Edinburgh, it is in the centre of town, so you cant miss it. Ask Timothy the innkeeper that you wish to go to Diagon Ally and he will escort you to the opening.  
  
Thanking you for your understanding  
  
Minerva McGonagall  
  
Deputy Headmistress  
  
"The Opening" she whispered.  
  
"I wonder what that is"  
  
"Mrs Wently can you please take me to Edinburgh today.  
  
CHAPTER 2  
  
As they stepped off the train into Edinburgh station Josie's excitement was mounting. She was thinking to herself about all the fun she would have this year, when she found herself and Mrs Wently already halfway down the street that 'The Cauldron' was in. The clean streets were lined with bins and benches, and Mrs Wently continued to get greener and greener the closer they got to the pub.  
  
Mrs Wently and Josie pushed their way through the door into a pub that looked oddly like a saloon that you would see in an old cowboy movie, however there were a lot of exceptionally strange people in this bar. There was a man sitting on a stool with a patch over is left eye and was drinking something that smelled so ghastly Josie almost gagged.  
  
An old lady was sitting by herself reading a paper and eating something that looked horribly like the intestines of some small animal. At this point Josie shut her eyes and walked blindly to the counter with Mrs Wently holding her shoulder.  
  
"Hi, my name is Joselyn Fairburn I was wondering if you could take me to the opening?" she asked very sweetly over the counter, although really she was so nervous she thought that she would throw up at any minute.  
  
"Hullo Miss Fairburn, how are you today?" answered Timothy  
  
"I'm fine thank you" she replied and crossed her fingers, as this was a down right lie. Before she could ask how Timothy was feeling today he said rather loudly,  
  
"Follow me please."  
  
He escorted her to a door to the side of the dusty bar.  
  
As they walked through the side door Josie found that she was beginning to get more excited than she was originally. Timothy was whistling a merry tune as he walked and Josie noticed a definite spring in his step. This altogether made her feel a lot better. Mrs Wently was also starting to look less green although there was still the greenish tinge in her cheeks.  
  
They entered another room that was completely different from the rest of the pub. It was a neat little room with maroon velvet curtains and a fireplace that was extremely large and was laden with white candles. There was a rug in front of the fireplace and quaint armchairs were strategically placed so if you sat in one you could see all of the others.  
  
Timothy went to a cabinet that was placed against the wall, and pulled a leather sack from the old wooden draw.  
  
"This," he said "is Floo Powder, you must use this to get to Diagon Ally from here."  
  
"Um, I haven't ever used this before what am I supposed to do?" Josie asked him, dumbfounded.  
  
CHAPTER 3  
  
Timothy looked a little bit puzzled by this and replied tentatively,  
  
"Oh I am sorry miss, I thought that you knew!" "I will show you how to do it."  
  
With that he opened the leather pouch and took out a handful of powder. He stepped into the fireplace and threw the powder at his feet, and almost yelled,  
  
"Diagon Ally"  
  
Before their very eyes Timothy was engulfed in green smoke and was whirling and swirling in front of them. Josie was taken aback by this and almost ran from the room, however her curiosity refrained her and she waited. Within two minutes Timothy had returned and began to explain what Josie must do.  
  
"Ok, first you must step into the fireplace and throw the power down, and say very very clearly 'Diagon Ally,' It may feel uncomfortable at first but it doesn't take long to get there."  
  
"Um, Tim?" Josie replied, trying not to sound scared. "Are you sure this is safe?"  
  
"Yes miss Joselyn, it is totally safe! The Floo Network is monitored every second of every day. If you get lost just throw your arms and legs out and you will be pulled to the nearest fireplace, someone will defiantly help you."  
  
"Ok," she sighed, "thank you very much Tim, should I go now?"  
  
"Yes of course, Mrs Wently and I will go after you."  
  
At this Mrs Wently clenched her fist and the colour that was left drained from her face. Josie stepped into the opening and her whole body trembled as she reached into the leather pouch and pulled out a generous handful of the white powder. She threw it at the floor and literally screamed 'Diagon Ally.'  
  
She was flying through mid-air, she tucked herself into a ball and closed her eyes, she didn't want to see the whirling fireplaces jumping from one to another. She kept going and going until she got rather scared.  
  
"What if I missed the stop," she thought.  
  
Panic started to rise through her body, she was defiantly sure that she had missed her stop. She threw out her arms and legs and fell face first into the kitchen of a house that was neat but cluttered. There was a clock that Josie noticed first off that was very odd, she couldn't read it from where she was but it looked like it had multiple hands. There was also a chair in the corner of the lounge that was holding four rolls of cotton and there was a pair of knitting needles that were knitting themselves. She was so intrigued by the house that she didn't notice six people enter the room via the back door.  
  
"Oi, who are you?" demanded a red head boy with freckles.  
  
"Yeah, who are you?" echoed the other five.  
  
The look on Josie's face was priceless. She was relieved to find people that may help her, but she was scared to death that they would cast her out or worse, maybe even hurt her. The six prompted her to respond by a boy with black messy hair saying,  
  
"Well then?"  
  
Josie came to her senses and jumped as she heard his voice.  
  
"Oh sorry, my name is Josie Fairburn, I am supposed to start Hogwarts this year, I was on my way to Diagon Ally but I got lost. Would you mind telling me where I am and who you guys are?"  
  
A bushy haired girl stepped forward and with a look of concern on her face and said,  
  
"I truly am sorry, we will figure your situation in a moment, but to begin with...This is the burrow, the red heads are the Weasly's, and they live here."  
  
Four of the six waved and said 'hi' there was one girl and three boys. Two of them looked no older than 15 and were identical, the other looked around Josie's age. The bushy haired girl continued.  
  
"The brown haired boy there, that's Harry, Harry Potter."  
  
She paused for effect but when she saw the black look on Josie's face she looked rather shocked and quickly picked up where she left off.  
  
"And my name is Hermione Granger!"  
  
Josie looked at them all and smiled, she also waved but it was barely noticeable because she was fidgeting so much.  
  
"Um, so where exactly in Scotland am I?" Josie asked  
  
"Scotland!" exclaimed Hermione. "HA, you're in England now. I take it from your accent that you are Scottish, and the fact that you are standing in front of the fireplace tells me that you arrived by Floo Powder."  
  
"You are very clever." Remarked Josie "So how old are you?"  
  
Harry cut in and replied "I am fourteen, so are Ron and Hermione, Fred and George are 15, and Ginny here is 13."  
  
"Oh that's great, I am fourteen as well, although I wont be attending the actual school."  
  
"Why not!" Demanded Ron. "I don't want to go to school either, why don't you have to?"  
  
"Well that's hard to explain," said Josie.  
  
"I got my first letter yesterday, yes I know I am fourteen, they made a mistake when you guys must have been in first year. So now I have to do all my schooling at home, during holidays and all, because I need to catch up. They call it Distance Education, it's a muggle term but it works, so I thought why not give it a shot."  
  
"Wow, that would totally suck," remarked Fred.  
  
"Hogwarts...Perfect place to run amuck" cut in George.  
  
"Oh my god" exclaimed Hermione who had been deep in thought all the time Josie had been talking.  
  
"I have had the perfect idea, why don't we all teach you what we know and you will be caught up in no time, then you can come to Hogwarts with us in September."  
  
Josie looked at her in shock,  
  
"You barely even know me, what makes you so sure I'm trustworthy, I mean, we just met?"  
  
Hermione considered her for a moment and replied,  
  
"Your last name is Fairburn right?"  
  
"Yes," replied Josie  
  
"Well your parents were in the Ministry years ago, they were Unspeakables, I read about it in The Age of The Ministry. They were killed in action weren't they?"  
  
Josie couldn't believe her ears. What was the Ministry and what on earth were Unspeakables. There standing in front of her was a girl Josie didn't know from a bar of soap and she knew more about Josie's life than what Josie did herself. She was standing there for what seemed forever when Ginny said,  
  
"They were killed in action weren't they."  
  
To this Josie replied  
  
"Um, I don't know. I have no idea who they are or were."  
  
CHAPTER 4  
  
When Josie looked up everyone was staring at her, she figured that it would be better to explain to them what had happened during her life, although she felt very uncomfortable about revealing her life with a bunch of complete strangers.  
  
"Ok...." She began.  
  
"When I was 2 years old my parents dropped me at an orphanage. I always thought they were criminals...well that's what the staff at Wently House said, but I figured they would come back for me.... I'm only guessing now, but I think they knew they were in danger and gave me away until the danger had passed.... well I don't know when they died so..."  
  
Hermione interjected,  
  
"Oh Josie....I am so sorry, I didn't know that you didn't know...if you know what I mean??"  
  
This couldn't help put a smile on Josie's face, Hermione didn't seem like a funny person to Josie and her cracking a joke like that really made the whole room laugh.  
  
Hermione blushed so hard her cheeks turned fluorescent red. Josie looked at her and then it suddenly sank in.  
  
"Are you sure that you will help me, I mean I really don't want to stay at home now I know the truth about the school, and who I am?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Of course we will," said Ginny taking Josie by the hand and leading her up the staircase to Ron's room while everyone else followed behind.  
  
"Ron doesn't have his books for this year yet, but I have all his second hand books. We can start from there and have you ready for school by September. See you got your letter before us. Since its only the start of the holidays.... we only got home from school yesterday, so, I think they realised they stuffed up just in time, or we wouldn't have been able to help you at all."  
  
Ginny finished talking and took a deep breath. She was talking so fast that Josie had to listen extremely carefully to understand her.  
  
Josie was looking around Ron's room and suddenly realised that the whole room was orange, and the pictures on all of the walls were moving. This freaked her out a little bit but she looked at Harry and he was staring at her with a look on his face that Josie couldn't quite read. He continued to stare until she looked away shyly.  
  
CHAPTER 5  
  
To Harry, Josie reminded him of someone he knew but he couldn't quite figure out who. Her long black hair blowing in the breeze of Ron's top floor room, her olive skin shining almost as if she had been sunbaking all afternoon...he awoke from his daydream by Fred punching him hard in the arm and whispering only so Harry could hear...  
  
"Hmmm, looks like Potters got a little crush on the new girl."  
  
This made Harry go scarlet, he didn't mean to stare at her for so long, why did he have to go and scare her. Josie looked back at him and smiled, this made his heart race and his knees go weak, he only ever felt like this when he was around Cho.  
  
CHO...in his mind this is who Josie reminded him of, although Josie wasn't of Asian decent her features still looked slightly like Cho Chang.  
  
Harry put this in the back of his mind and set about trying not to look so pleased or excited although in reality he was stoked that he had a new friend. The Weasly's and Hermione were great, but he just figured he needed someone new in his life, maybe to bring some more happiness or some new sense of adventure (not that he needed it) to the mix.  
  
The seven new friends bounded downstairs after they had shown Josie the whole house, Josie had now found out that Hermione was the practical one of the group, Fred and George were the trouble makers and Harry and Ron seemed to get into a lot of trouble, but it was told however that trouble usually found them.  
  
They also explained to Josie about what had happened to Harry as a baby and what the past three years had bought to him. This made Josie feel sorry for Harry but it increased the respect that she felt for him, as she realised that he had done so much and that she knew nothing about the Wizarding world whatsoever. When they reached the bottom of the staircase Mr and Mrs Weasly were there with a look of deep concern on their faces. As soon as they saw Josie Mrs Weasly squealed and grabbed Josie by the hand and lead her to the kitchen and Mr Weasly ran to the fireplace and plunged his head in.  
  
"That missing girl the Ministry was looking for this morning, she is here in our house, you wait til I get my hands on those kids, not telling anyone, we all thought she'd gone into a fireplace from the 'dark side'. Ok, just tell the old prune that we have her and we will return her in the morning, although the old bat doesn't seem like the type to care."  
  
This was very unusual for Mr Weasly to say as he had a kind affection for muggles, but in this case he was referring to Mrs Wently and frankly she scared the hell out of him because she met him earlier that morning.  
  
"See you later Kingsley" was the last things that the kids heard as Mrs Weasly made them go upstairs to wait while they 'questioned' Josie.  
  
Josie was talking to Mrs Weasly in deep conversation when Hermione, Ginny and the boys came downstairs after getting Harry's and Josie's beds set up (Harry in Ron's room, Josie's in Ginny's) and after they had all showered, which took a considerably long time taken the fact that there was eight people to get sorted out.  
  
"So mum...what are you gunna do with her?" interrupted Fred  
  
Josie had some of an idea that Fred and George were always wanting to be in on the action, and wanting to know what was going on all day everyday...this made Josie giggle to herself. She thought that only girls did this sort of gossiping.  
  
"We aren't gunna do anything with her...she is a living breathing 14 year old much like Hermione so stay out of it...." Growled Mrs Weasly.  
  
"Besides it's late and after we eat you are all going to bed because we are going to Diagon Ally tomorrow to get Josie's things." She continued.  
  
After they had all eaten, they had an easy meal of home made Pizza that Mrs Weasly had made and frozen a few days ago. They walked silently up to bed and all fell fast asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows. They all dreamt of nothing except for Josie and Harry whose dreams were completely different yet had one similarity. They both had the other in them.  
  
When Josie woke it was 6am and she walked downstairs to find Mrs Weasly sitting at the dining room table that was already set for breakfast.  
  
"Oh, your up dear, I didn't think anyone would be down for a while yet" she said.  
  
"Come and sit here," she said as she patted the chair beside her.  
  
And Josie did as she was asked. They sat talking about how Josie felt learning that she was a witch and all the stuff that went with it. They were talking for so long that it was 8 am when Josie looked at her watch and Mrs Weasly almost had a heart attack.  
  
"Oh my," she said, exasperated. "They should have been up an hour ago, oh...I have to get them up and ready before eight thirty, the portkey leaves then...."  
  
"Oh no!" is what Josie could hear all the way up the stairs until they reached the rooms.  
  
Josie followed her into all of the rooms while Mrs Weasly tried to rouse the drowsy teenagers.  
  
"Get up...come on now, we are already late, please GET UP before I get angry" at this Ginny leapt up from the bed and ran straight for the bathroom and locked the door behind her.  
  
CHAPTER 6  
  
Fred raced to the door just after Ginny had locked it and started banging and kicking the door. He was screaming something so vile that Mrs Weasly went rushing over there and was threatening to use an unforgivable curse on him if he didn't shut up...Josie had no clue what the unforgivable curses were and she didn't really want to find out.  
  
Everyone except Ginny came downstairs and had their breakfast, by the time they had finished, it was 10 minutes past eight and they still had to get dressed and cleaned up before they left. Mrs Weasly had an idea and it worked. She conjured up a second and third bathroom from her wand just outside the backdoor so that three people at a time could get ready. First it was Harry in the upstairs bathroom and Fred and Ron in the outside bathrooms. The second lot were Hermione in the upstairs bathroom Josie in one of the outside ones and George in the other.  
  
Mrs Weasly made them all run out of the house and down the street, it was 8:25 and they were still about 500 metres from the portkey. Harry sprinted forwards and quickly scoured the ground to find the portkey. Finally he found an old sneaker, and beckoned everyone to run as fast as they could, at 8:27 they were all gathered around the shoe. Then Harry spoke, he was actually meaning his explanation for Josie as she, obviously, had never travelled by portkey before.  
  
"Ok, quickly, quickly, everyone place a hand or even a finger on the shoe, as long as it's touching, in about two minutes we leave for Diagon Ally." Explained Harry  
  
Josie questioned him, "why are we all standing in the middle of a deserted cricket pitch holding on to a grubby boot."  
  
"Hmm.... I will explain that to you Josie when we get there, as it will probably take a while to explain and I'm afraid we don't have that much time to spare"  
  
As he said this he reminded her to keep hold at all times and she wouldn't be able to be separated as the portkey doesn't allow people to be lost.  
  
Suddenly, Josie felt like she had been jerked from behind her belly button, her feet were off the ground and she was completely disorientated. They began to spin and whirl in a flurry of bright lights. Josie didn't like this feeling at all, and immediately decided that she would never travel by any magical means at all, unless she had total control of the situation. As soon as they had started the feeling was over and they had all banged into the ground, most of them (excluding Mrs Weasly and Harry) lost their balance and fell over one-an-other, and the grubby shoe fell to the floor as they all let go.  
  
Josie jumped up from the ground and although very dizzy ran to the nearest waste bin and threw up that mornings breakfast. Everyone was looking at her with a hint of surprise in his or her eyes, they all liked Josie very much, but they just didn't seem to think that she was a very aspiring witch, however everyone closed their mouths, and Mrs Weasly gave them all the 'look,' as if to say..."If you say anything to her, I will see to it that you wont say anything again."  
  
After Josie had returned from the bin she glanced at her surroundings. There was a door to her left and it led to a large dusty room. However the area that they were in wasn't really a room, it was more like a stone passage with nothing but brick enclosing them. "Hmmm...that room in there looks somehow familiar," she thought to herself looking to her left.  
  
Then Mrs Weasly spoke.  
  
"This, Josie is The Leaky Cauldron, It's the franchise that started the chain of "Cauldrons" all over Europe,"  
  
Then Josie realised that this, in fact did look just a little like the pub that she had landed in the Weasly fireplace from.  
  
"We get to Diagon Ally through here," she continued and she pointed to the wall behind her.  
  
Josie had absolutely no clue as to how they were supposed to walk through a wall, but recently she gave up her scepticism and gained a new sense of optimism. I suppose finding out that you are a witch takes care of that. Mrs Weasly took out her wand and tapped the wall three times is some sort of order, and then she stood back and motioned everyone to do the same. Josie was astounded, right in front of her eyes the brick wall began to swirl and the bricks parted so that it was wide enough for at least six people to pass through at one time.  
  
Josie's mouth continued to get wider and wider was they walked past the shops, Mrs Weasly turned to her and asked,  
  
"Where would you like to go first, wand shopping, or book shopping?"  
  
Josie had been excited at the fact that she would be getting a wand, so she answered promptly.  
  
"Can we get my wand first please Mrs Weasly?"  
  
"Of course we can dear, come now, we have to go to Gringotts, it's a wizard bank."  
  
Then something struck Josie.  
  
"Um Mrs Weasly I don't have any money I wasn't allowed any at the orphanage and well, I doubt my mother and father would have any now since you know they're dead." She said those last words as if she was totally alone and finished was a rather large sigh.  
  
It really bothered Molly Weasly to see someone like this and she said to wait a minute and she would be right back. She literally ran into the huge white building with a plaque on the entrance that said Gringotts Wizard Bank.  
  
She emerged just as quickly as she had entered and had a massive grin on her face. She raced up to meet the seven teens and put her arm around Josie.  
  
"Follow me dear," is all she said.  
  
CHAPTER 7  
  
The group walked up the white steps and through the white passage and wooden doors into a massive hall that was filled with goblins and benches. Josie clung tight to Mrs Weasly's arm and didn't let go until they reached a counter that was manned (or should I say goblined) by a very nasty looking Goblin, and by the look of him, his name matched his look, which was Uglamyer.  
  
"Hello, and welcome to Gringotts," he said in a rather bored tone. "Please present your key and we will escort you right in."  
  
At this Molly looked shocked and said firmly,  
  
"Excuse me, I just came in here and told you that this young lady is a Fairburn, and you said that you had her key for safe keeping...please can you give it too us so we can do our shopping?"  
  
"Oh" he said and became quite interested. "Yes, yes it was you wasn't it? I am afraid that we need some identification from this young lady in order for us to dispatch her key. Could you please tell me the name and number of the house in which you were born?"  
  
Without a second thought Josie answered, "Number 13 Westplain Avenue" the name of the house was Fair's Haven, no one else knows that as the house was destroyed about three hours after I was born, and there was no record of it ever existing."  
  
Hermione jumped when she heard this as she had thought that Josie didn't know anything about her past at all. And quickly asked,  
  
"Um...Josie how do you know that?" And to this Josie replied  
  
"I have totally no idea! As soon as the question was asked I was sort of compelled to answer, like I was under some sort of truth potion...although I know that doesn't exist".  
  
Hermione looked puzzled for a short time and then it was like a light bulb went on inside her brain.  
  
"Ohhhh," she exclaimed "I know what happened, that is a spell and as soon as the question came out of that goblins mouth the real beneficiary would come out with the truth, the actual owners of the vault which was your parents had to do a ceremony where a selected goblin would be chosen and wouldn't be able to speak a word of any of the inhabitants of the vault in question. It's a very very old piece of magic, it had to be done on a full moon on a mid-summer night, and in complete darkness and total quite. Its amazing that it actually worked."  
  
Josie looked at Hermione with total respect, she couldn't understand how someone her age could possibly know all of this...and then she had a thought.  
  
"Ah, Hermione, what would happen if someone gave a wrong answer?"  
  
"Well, ah, I don't really like to think about it." She responded.  
  
"Oh come on please tell me" Josie pushed.  
  
"Oh ok, only please don't throw up again" she laughed "well the person gets completely turned inside out on the spot, like everything in reverse, and its extremely painful, although it can be undone, it takes the best healers in the business to fix it.  
  
The look on Josie's face said it all. She looked totally disgusted and turned her head in the opposite direction.  
  
Hermione looked at her again, and said, "Oh, and by the way, truth potion is an actual thing, it really works, the thing is, you are forgetting that you are a WITCH now, so make the most of it."  
  
The Goblin at the front counter handed Josie a key, and personally escorted her out of a wooden door, and into a wooden cart, on a set of railway lines. She wanted the others to go with her, but they werent allowed. The cart was speeding up rapidly and Josie found it quite exhilarating to be in it, as she was what you would call a speed demon.  
  
The goblin roared "Vault 392" Josie jumped out of the cart and walked to the door of the vault, there was no where to put her key. She was looking at the handle and inscriptions appeared as she touched it.  
  
She couldn't make out what they said but the goblin at her side said the words, drintifolate openagate and to Josie's surprise a keyhole appeared on the handle.  
  
She inserted the key into the lock and a rush of wind passed over her feet as the large metal door opened. She tentatively peered around the corner and her jaw dropped. Every type of jewel imaginable was there at her feet, along with thousands of Gold Silver and Bronze coins.  
  
She had been given a moneybag as she had entered the opening chamber of the railway track, and quickly filled it with about 25 gold coins 5 silver coins and 5 bronze ones. She looked at some of the jewels greedily, but thought better of it to take any. She quickly said thank you to her mother and father and jumped back into the cart, which trundled away back up into the Great Hall of Gringotts.  
  
She jumped out of the cart and bolted to where Mrs Weasly was standing, all the other children had run off to do something or the other, and Harry had just gone down to get some money out of his vault. It then occurred to Josie that Harry and her led a similar life, both their parents had been killed, they were both brought up by people they hated, and they both had access to a vault of their own.  
  
CHAPTER 8  
  
Harry hurried up the stone path to meet Mrs Weasly and Josie who were still there waiting for him. They walked casually out of Gringotts and onto the cobbled street that was packed full of people.  
  
"Where to now?" asked Josie  
  
Harry looked into her electric blue eyes, and replied.  
  
"We can go and get your wand if you like?"  
  
They walked briskly up the street and Josie was engrossed in all of the shops that had extremely peculiar window displays, so much that she didn't notice when Harry entered Quality Quidditch Supplies and Mrs Weasly went into Madam Malkins Robes for all Occasions. She was left standing on the side of the path looking quite lost.  
  
She stopped outside of Flourish and Blotts book store, where she stared at the window. There she saw about 10 books involved in a brawl and the owner of the store trying to break them up. In the corner of the window she happened to glance at another display and saw the cover with a moving picture of a wizard and a title that said: Merlin the True Story.  
  
This somehow compelled Josie, and she was about to step inside, when the door swung open and knocked her off her feet. She slid across the ground and landed sprawled in the middle of the path, her moneybag spilled open and gold coins were rolling away from her. She got to her feet and glared angrily at the boy standing in front of her, and yelled  
  
"Watch where you're going you bloody idiot."  
  
"Why don't you watch where your going, you filthy mud blood." Yelled back a blonde haired boy with a pale complexion and grey eyes.  
  
"I wasn't the one who pushed the door into myself, and I certainly would have helped you up if I had knocked you down, don't you have any manners? And what on earth do you mean by Mud blood?" she scolded back.  
  
"He looked like she had hit him hard in the face with that statement but didn't answer her question about mud blood and quickly apologised.  
  
"I'm sorry, I was rushing to meet my father, I will help you pick up your money if you like?"  
  
He knelt down and picked up all of the coins and put them into her hand before he said  
  
"I must leave quickly, my father is waiting." And he darted away.  
  
Josie liked him, she didn't know why but he seemed to be totally opposite to Harry, and she could see he had a fear, or pain in his eyes when he mentioned his father. Harry raced out of the Quidditch shop and met Josie, where he took her into Ollivanders.  
  
They entered the shop, and Josie took as seat beside a window that was filled with grime, so that you could barely see through it. She looked around the shop and noticed how dusty it was, and it was clear to her that the shop hadn't been cleaned since it had been bought in 382 BC. At that moment an old man with pale grey eyes and wispy white hair glided from a back room and almost knocked Harry over, as Harry hadn't taken a seat and was standing near the front desk.  
  
Before Josie could say anything he spoke.  
  
"Ah, Mr Potter, nice to see you again. Oh, and who do we have here.... galloping gargoyles...Miss Fairburn, oh my...."  
  
********************************************************  
  
He walked over to Josie and was staring intently at her, before he said,  
  
"Come here, come here, and let me take a look at you"  
  
He measured her and he looked at every inch of her right hand. Josie had absolutely no idea what he was doing, so she stood very still while Harry looked on in wonder.  
  
"Um, Harry" she whispered "did he do this to you too?" she asked.  
  
"Not exactly like that, but he did measure me and everything." Was his answer.  
  
Mr Ollivander continued to survey Josie, and then walked to the very far back corner of the shop, apparently he was searching for something specific.  
  
".... Oh, yes very nice very nice, I expect he'd be proud... yes yes, very promising...." Is what Ollivander was muttering to himself all the while, when he was looking for his lost thing.  
  
He found the 'something' and as soon as he pulled it from the back of the shelf, he yelled  
  
"YES.... I knew I had it here somewhere." There in Ollivander's hands was a box that was about the size of a 30cm ruler. He opened the lid and a rather dusty wand was then exposed. Ollivander took the wand and placed it softly in Josie's hand.  
  
"This" he said "was Merlins staff, it was configured into a wand about a century after he died because staffs had gone out of fashion. The only soul that can wield this wand is a direct descendent of Merlin,"  
  
"So why are you giving it to me?" asked Josie  
  
"Because, you my dear, are related to Merlin through your mother, your grandmothers grandmother was the outcome. She was the daughter of a illegitimate birth...you see Merlin had a love for women, and well yes, it was researched and you are the only one left from that family."  
  
Josie couldn't believe what she was hearing, she was the heir of an ancient and powerful wizard and she didn't even know it. Josie lifted the wand but she didn't know what to do, so she gave it a few swishes and a few prods, as though she were sword fighting, she only did this to prove that she was nothing special.  
  
But at that second, Scarlet, Gold, Silver, Green, Yellow and Blue sparks flew from the end of the wand they turned themselves into fireworks that exploded and formed a Lion and Snake a Bager and an Eagle. Harry was dumbfounded and Josie look like she was going to faint.  
  
The projections faded and a man appeared where the animals had once been. He looked real, as though Josie could reach out and touch him, and she did so. He was a walking talking man that had appeared out of thin air. Josie tried to stay composed but she was finding it very difficult.  
  
"Hello Joselyn," said the booming voice of the man.  
  
"Um, hello...who are you?" she replied  
  
"Oh bother, I though as you are my heir that you would have been a smart one, and figured that out.... I am Merlin the Wizard...dummy." He said.  
  
And Harry cracked up laughing. Josie threw out her arm and slapped him playfully across the back of his head.  
  
There was Merlin, who had died centuries ago, yet there he was, standing in the middle of the dusty shop, looking directly at Josie: She was totally shocked. CHAPTER 10 "Um, why did you just come out of this wand?" she asked him. "I came here because of you. You are my only descendent and that means that you have inherited everything that I once owned. Your mother had the house that I once had, and it shall be passed on from generation to generation until you have children and they have children. Every possession that I owned will become yours in about 30 minutes," "Why that long?" interrupted Josie.  
  
"Because the Ministry will be instructed to do so, under a clause that I put into my impressively old but preserved will." He answered.  
  
"Now I must go. You will be instructed as of what to do...I must go back into the afterlife, I shall be watching over you, young one, and I can only hope that you will live up the Merlin family pride and be a great Witch someday."  
  
And with that he disappeared into a puff of smoke. Leaving Josie with far more questions than answers.  
  
They left the Ollivander's shop about 15 minutes later, after Josie had tried to pay for the wand but Mr Ollivander would not let her, and in the meanwhile he tried to make Harry and Josie touch hands...they didn't know what it was about, and to be quite honest, they didn't want to know. They giggled as they walked out of the shop and into the cool fresh breeze and proceeded to walk down the road towards the Post Office.  
  
Josie was still thinking to herself how crazy and weird it was to be related to someone famous and not one person...other than herself and Harry was really that aware of it. They had been walking for a while and were contemplating weather or not to buy an ice cream, when there was a piercing scream in the distance.  
  
People started to run, they were clambering for free fireplaces, and apparating away, and those who could not apparate or travel by Floo powder were running for the opening into the leaky cauldron. Josie and Harry had no idea what was going on, and they didn't want to be separated from the Weasly's or Hermione so they stayed put. They stood for what was about 30 seconds and Harry started to pace, he couldn't stand still, he wanted to know what the panic was about.  
  
"Josie, stay put" he said, "I'll be back in a second"  
  
Harry raced around the corner and Josie didn't feel right about being left behind, so she followed. The two, although Harry didn't know he was being trailed, walked to the mouth of another alleyway that Harry had only ever been once before.  
  
"Knockturn alley" he whispered.  
  
"What?" asked Josie.  
  
Harry nearly jumped 10 feet into the air, but he just looked at Josie and smiled his brilliant smile. He said in a rushed and hushed voice,  
  
"You know the muggle 'the black market' well this is the Wizard. Not many respected members of the wizard world go down there."  
  
As she listened she saw about 20 masked black figures walking briskly in single file out of a shop at the back end of the Alleyway. Harry looked horrified, but he also had no idea what they were. He thought they were dementors that he had seen at school last year. They, of course, were in the quest to catch his godfather Sirius that had escaped Azkaban. Although Harry, Ron, Hermione knew he was totally innocent. He stared at them again, and realised, these weren't dementors, dementors usually glided they were actually walking.  
  
Harry whispered, "Josie run to The Leaky Cauldron, get them to call someone from the Minestry, this isn't right"  
  
Josie was about to run, and to do as she was told, but the box in her shopping bag was shaking so hard that the box started to float into the air. She then noticed that the pocket of Harry's jeans was also vibrating. Both wands burst out of their homes, and stayed crisscrossed in the air.  
  
Harry touched his wand, and Josie reached up to pull hers down, when their hands touched. Sparks flew from the tips of the wands. They both felt a surge of energy rush through their whole bodies. Before they could do anything however, the leading black figure stepped out of the alley and spied them.  
  
He yelled to the other 19 as they began the chase.  
  
"Get them. Don't damage them AT ALL...He wont be pleased if you do, and you know what happens."  
  
CHAPTER 11  
  
The black figures were advancing on them and as though Josie had been a witch in training all her life, she through her wand over her shoulder, turned around, caught it again before shouting "Wingardium Leviosa.' The robes of every black figure were levitated above their heads, covering their eyes, and revealing very white legs. Seising this opportunity Harry called 'Monstifer Tripeir' and the shoe laces of the figures tied together, making them all fall over each other and allowing Harry and Josie to run to the leaky cauldron. They barely made it too the ice cream shop before there was about 15 popping sounds and Harry and Josie were encircled by people wearing pinstripe cloaks and all looking very pleased with themselves. 


End file.
